D&D posses and monstrous hype

I recently wrote about generating hype for your D&D campaign so players are excited about upcoming games. It definitely works but somehow I never consciously applied the concept in-game.

Hip creatures

Why didn’t I ever build hype about a monster? I don’t know. But I will from now on. A few examples…

Expy the dragon says:
Want even more hype?
Make Tailslap a red dragon.

If your PC party keeps hearing about Tailslap, a dragon that has a very long and spiked tail, and how Tailslap absolutely demolishes anyone trying to get close to him by breath-weapon-and-tail-impaling them, well, the PCs will probably get worried and / or excited when they approach an encounter with the infamous dragon. It might also trigger some fun strategic discussions.

Another example would be Peeker – the uber-blinking displacer beast that can blink at will as a free action. No one can stand a chance against such a beast so all the village folks are terrorized and constantly talking about the darn displacer beast. Hype arises. The PCs will have to come up with something real smart to slay that one and will add to the displacer beast buzz by discussing it too.

Cool posses

Another staple of buzzed out individuals is the oversized posse. Appearance, intimidation, and cool names – that’s what cool posses are all about.

Now imagine this. An abusive local wizard has been taking advantage of good townsfolks. He always strolls into town with a dozen brutes and they wreak havok for no reason. I need cool names for these guys! No problem!

Expy is the mascot for DungeonMastering.com and the real mastermind behind Expy Games. He likes to hoard treasure, terrorize neighbors, burn down villages, and tell white dragon jokes..

No matter how fearful the legends claim dragons are, they always end up being defeated in 5 rounds by adventuring parties they encounter. That’s what dragons are – experience points for the heroes in your Dungeons & Dragon party. And this mascot is no different, hence the name Expy.

[... I recently wrote about generating hype for your D&D campaign so players are excited about upcoming games. It definitely works but somehow I never consciously applied the concept in-game.
Hip creatures
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